Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.9.1

Anantarām Śāstrījī: [chants verse; Prabhupāda and devotees respond]

evaṁ surādayaḥ sarve brahma-rudra-puraḥ sarāḥ nopaitum aśakan manyu- saṁrambhaṁ sudurāsadam [SB 7.9.1] [break]

Prabhupāda: [00:58]

evaṁ surādayaḥ sarve brahma-rudra-puraḥ sarāḥ nopaitum aśakan manyu- saṁrambhaṁ sudurāsadam [SB 7.9.1]

Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, if He is pleased upon somebody, nobody can annihilate him. Similarly, if He is angry upon somebody, nobody can protect him. There is a Bengali, payāra, rākhe kṛṣṅa māre ke, māre kṛṣṅa rākhe ke. If Kṛṣṅa wants to kill somebody... Kṛṣṅa does not kill, neither the living entity is ever killed. Just like father. If he chastises his son, it is not chastisement; it is favor. The devotees can understand that even sometimes we meet very reverse condition of life, it is also favor. Tat te 'nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṅaḥ [SB 10.14.8]. Anyone who can see that this unfavorable condition of life is also another favor of Kṛṣṅa... Tat te 'nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṅaḥ. "Even there is some suffering, it is not given by Kṛṣṅa. I am suffering on account of my past misdeeds, and Kṛṣṅa is so kind that I would have suffered many hundred thousand times more than the present suffering, but Kṛṣṅa is adjusting the whole thing by little suffering." This is the vision of devotee. Tat te 'nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṅo bhuñjana evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam. Ātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam. A devotee never accuses Kṛṣṅa, that "Kṛṣṅa, I am serving You so nicely, and You are giving me so much suffering." No. This is not devotee's view. Devotee will take that "This so-called suffering is also Kṛṣṅa's favor." Tat te 'nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṅaḥ. So those who are going forward with Kṛṣṅa consciousness, they should not be, I mean, a debtor to any condition of life.

So surādayaḥ. Surādayaḥ means demigods headed by Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva. Yaṁ brahmā-varuṅendra-rudra stunvanti divyaiḥ stavaiḥ. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshiped even by Brahma. Yaṁ brahmā-varuṅendra: Indra, Varuna and Indra... There are big, big stalwart demigods. They also offer their respect. They think themselves as subordinate, humble servants of Kṛṣṅa. Śiva-viriñci-nutam [SB 11.5.33].

[My dear Lord, You are the Mahā-puruṣa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and I worship Your lotus feet, which are the only eternal object of meditation. Those feet destroy the embarrassing conditions of material life and freely award the greatest desire of the soul, the attainment of pure love of Godhead. My dear Lord, Your lotus feet are the shelter of all holy places and of all saintly authorities in the line of devotional service and are honored by powerful demigods like Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. My Lord, You are so kind that You willingly protect all those who simply bow down to You with respect, and thus You mercifully relieve all the distress of Your servants. In conclusion, my Lord, Your lotus feet are actually the suitable boat for crossing over the ocean of birth and death, and therefore even Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva seek shelter at Your lotus feet.]

Kṛṣṅa is offered obeisances even by demigods like Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā. Śiva-viriñci-nutam.

yaṁ brahmā-varuṅendra-rudra stunvanti divyaiḥ stavair vedaiḥ sāṅga-pada-kramopaniṣadair gāyanti yaṁ sāma-gāḥ dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yogino yasyāntaṁ na viduḥ surāsura-gaṅā devāya tasmai namaḥ [SB 12.13.1]

[Sūta Gosvāmī said: Unto that personality whom Brahmā, Varuṅa, Indra, Rudra and the Maruts praise by chanting transcendental hymns and reciting the Vedas with all their corollaries, pada-kramas and Upaniṣads, to whom the chanters of the Sāma Veda always sing, whom the perfected yogīs see within their minds after fixing themselves in trance and becoming fully absorbed in thoughts of Him, and whose limit can never be found by any demigod or demon—unto that Supreme Personality of Godhead I offer my humble obeisances.]

So the anger is there, Kṛṣṅa, but His anger is worshiped. And our anger is different. That is the distinction between spirit and matter. So here, surādayaḥ sarve brahma-rudra-puraḥ sarāḥ na upaitum aśakan manyu. There is anger. Kṛṣṅa, to kill Hiraṅyakaśipu, He became so angry that even big, big stalwart demigods, brahmādaya... Because demigods... The list of demigods begins from Lord Brahmā. He is the original father of the demigods and all other living entities. He's therefore known as prajā-pati or called pitā-maha, grandfather, prajā-pati. He is the origin of everything. The Darwin's theory, a rascal theory, that there was no life, but according to Vedic knowledge there were the best life: Brahmā. From there begins life, and gradually they become degraded, material contamination. Not that there was no life; from low type of living condition one is elevated higher and higher. That is a wrong theory. The real theory is that life begins from the most exalted person, Lord Brahmā, prajā-pati. So in any auspicious matter they are forward, because you cannot approach God in your lower condition of life. Hmm? Lower condition of life means sinful reaction. In that condition you cannot approach God. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān [Bg 10.12].

[Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala, and Vyāsa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.]

[aside:] Who is talking?

Pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān. Kṛṣṅa is the supreme pure, pavitraṁ paramam. Paramam means "extreme." So nobody can approach Kṛṣṅa while he is impure. That is not possible. Just like some rascals, they say, "It doesn't matter what you are eating, what you are doing. There is no hindrance for your spiritual advancement." These rascals, these fools, misleading the whole world that in the matter of understanding the Supreme Person one can behave like the low-grade persons. No. That is not possible. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān [Bg 10.12].

So if you have to approach the supreme pure, you have to become pure. Otherwise there is no possibility. Without being fire, you cannot enter into the fire. Then you'll be burned. Similarly, although you are also Brahman... Part of Para-brahman is also Brahman. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. This is our identification. But what kind of Brahman? But minute particle of Brahman, small particle. Just like spark and the whole fire: both of them are fire, but spark is spark, and the big fire is big fire. So the spark cannot become big fire. If he wants to become so, then he falls down. Then whatever little light was there, fire, it becomes extinguished. If the spark out of impudency wants to try to become the big fire, then he falls down. Āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ [SB 10.2.32].

[[Someone may say that aside from devotees, who always seek shelter at the Lord's lotus feet, there are those who are not devotees but who have accepted different processes for attaining salvation. What happens to them? In answer to this question, Lord Brahmā and the other demigods said:] O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.]

Āruhya kṛcchreṅa, by severe austerities and penances, you can rise up to the impersonal Brahman, but you'll fall down again. That is the fact. So many persons, they are trying to become merged into the existence of the Supreme Brahman, but the result is they are falling down. They must fall down. It is not possible. Āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho anādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ [SB 10.2.32]. Without taking care to worship the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, they are falling down. So we should be very, very careful not to try to become equal or greater than Kṛṣṅa. There are some rascals, they say that "Such and such rascal is greater than Kṛṣṅa." I do not wish to mention their name. That rascals, they say that "Aurobindo is greater than Kṛṣṅa." They say like that. Do you know that? So this, the world, is full of rascals and fools. We have to... Very cautiously and intelligently we have to make progress in spiritual life. Don't take it very insignificantly or.. We should be very much careful. Otherwise there is falldown, and once falldown means a gap of millions of years. You have got this human form of life to complete Kṛṣṅa consciousness, but if you are not serious, then again the gap will be millions of years.

Therefore our duty is tāṅdera caraṅa sevi, bhakta-sane vās. We should live with the devotees and be engaged in the service of the ācāryas. Ācāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān nāvamanyeta karhicit [SB 11.17.27].

[One should know the ācārya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods.]

One should understand ācārya as Kṛṣṅa Himself. Don't disregard him. Yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau [Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23].

[Unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master, all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically revealed.]

These are the statement. So we must be very cautious. Just like here also, the brahmādaya, big, big demigods, they could not pacify, appease the Lord. He was angry. Evaṁ surādayaḥ sarve brahma-rudra-puraḥ sarāḥ. Big, big personalities, rudra, na upaitum. Na upaitum aśakan manyu. They could not pacify Him, and saṁrambhaṁ sudurāsadam. Sudurāsadam: very, very difficult. Once we are condemned by Kṛṣṅa, it is very, very difficult to rise up again. Mūḍhā janmani janmani [Bg 16.20]. Life after life we shall be condemned. That is our punishment. So don't do anything which will make Kṛṣṅa unhappy. Simply engage yourself in the service of the Lord. Very simple thing. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg 18.65].

[Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.]

Simply always think of Him. Do not think anyone..., anything else. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam [Cc Madhya 19.170].

[Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.]

Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11].

[One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṅa favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.]

Just try to maintain your service for Kṛṣṅa. There is twenty-four-hours' engagement, and try to follow it. Do not neglect it. That will make your life successful.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]